


That Girl is Poison (And that Plant is Poisoned)

by AllaboutFinn (Savoury_Jelly)



Series: Finding Their Way to Each Other [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, for saltylike crait's plant fic list
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24046489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Savoury_Jelly/pseuds/AllaboutFinn
Summary: When Finn's plant mysteriously gets ill, he can't believe the diagnosis from the plant doctor he's been directed to see.Edited by RensBadDay. Any mistakes made post-beta are mine
Relationships: Finn/Rey (Star Wars)
Series: Finding Their Way to Each Other [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747816
Comments: 12
Kudos: 17
Collections: Finnrey Fanfic Connection





	That Girl is Poison (And that Plant is Poisoned)

**Author's Note:**

> For those who may not be aware, Marialew is the Rey-lookalike driver of the garbage scow that Finn meets in the Finn comic that came out last summer. Eliamay is my own creation.

Finn Calrissian was anxious when the brown-haired girl wielding a scary-looking instrument began gesturing toward him with it.

“Okay. Finish telling me what happened.”

“Sure.” Finn drew a deep breath. “Anyway, I’ve been sort of distracted lately studying for the Bar, which is why I needed the extra help in the first place. I was forgetting to eat, let alone tend to other things. By the time I came up for air, I noticed that it was ... not looking good, and I was afraid that I might make it worse. My friend Kaydel told me about you, and I figured that you were my best shot. Thanks for fitting me in today. I guess whatever _word_ Kay said she'd put in for me to get you to put me at the top of your waiting list worked out.”

“Mmm.” She was poking around with the strange, long instrument and barely looking at him. “And?”

Finn looked askance at the girl’s bent head as she continued pressing the long, metal tube here and there. He wasn’t sure what else she expected him to say.

“ _And_ , that’s pretty much it. I’m worried ... do you think there’s any hope?”

The girl continued her movements silently, peering at the instrument at certain points. After several seconds of that, she raised her head to look at him.

“Yes, I think there’s hope. There’s only one thing I can suggest to you.”

“ _Anything_ ... you’re the expert.”

“Break up with her.” The voice was cold. “That’s basically the best advice I can give you.”

Her eyes looked remote and her face was grim. The change from the smiling, helpful woman who had greeted him moments before was so stark that Finn shivered involuntarily.

Then what she said filtered through to him and he reared back in shock.

“ _What_?”

The girl sighed and pushed wayward strands of brown hair out of her eyes. For some reason the gesture called to Finn’s notice the freckles dotting her nose, and it made him think of Eliamay. She bore a slight resemblance to her but she was taller, her eyes were greenish-brown, not blue, and her hair was darker.

“Listen. I’ve seen this before. I’ve _experienced_ this before. The readings are almost off the charts.” She tapped the pot of the plant that sat between them on the counter with the long, metal _thing_ with which she had been prodding the soil. “This soil is _super_ acidic. The only way it could get this way specifically is with industrial-grade copper sulfate.”

Finn stared at his plant, shriveled and brown in its little pot. His mind was a blank, and in his periphery, he registered the movement of the young woman sighing and shaking her head.

“There are solutions of copper sulfate that that are used in fungicides and bactericides, and those are fine for plants. Usually those solutions have about 2 percent copper sulfate dissolved into them. But for the soil to get like _this_ , the solution was probably closer to 80 percent, and _that’s_ industrial grade.”

Finn took a deep, shuddering breath. “Couldn’t it have been an accident?”

“No. You have to have a license for the big-time stuff. You can’t just grab it off the shelves of your local Piggly Wiggly.” She eyed him. “Kaydel told me that your girlfriend is a furniture maker. That still accurate? ”

“Y-yeah ...”

“Well, industrial-level copper sulfate is used to help tan leather and dye it.” She wiped her hands on an apron smudged with soot. “So she’d probably have a source for it.”

Finn’s mouth worked soundlessly, and then he managed: “... _Why_? Why would she even –”

“– I have no idea.” She shrugged. “If she’s anything like my ex-boyfriend, maybe it’s because she doesn’t feel like you’re paying enough attention to her. Didn’t you just say something about studying for the Bar?”

“Yeah, but ...” Finn’s voice faltered. Eliamay had been very supportive at the start of their relationship, but he had noticed a slight frostiness right after he’d come back from his summer associate placement in D’Qar Springs. His third year had been packed, and they’d argued a fair bit, and after graduation, when he began devoting his time to studying for the Bar exam, she seemed different. Changed. He found solace in the small patch of his apartment he used as a makeshift greenhouse, and had been touched when she’d offered stop by each day to care for his plants so that he could focus on studying.

“I just ... I don’t know. It just seems so ... wait.” Finn’s brow creased. “Did you say your boyfriend did something like this, too?

 _“Ex._ Yep. Lost a purple horn plant and two golden rathtar cacti I raised from seedlings. The trigger was my getting accepted into Soccoro State’s botany master’s program.” Her expression tuned somewhat sad. “The guy I was dating at the time thought I should be catering more to him and not my career, because hey, dinner wasn’t going to cook itself, right? When I started getting busier with my schoolwork and having to travel to different places as part of the course, I asked him to look after my plants. They just mysteriously started dying. Underwatering. Overwatering. Too much plant food. Not enough.”

She leaned against the counter. “He kept telling me it wasn’t his fault, that he was doing what I told him to do, so I must’ve been giving him the wrong directions. Gaslighting me.”

Watching him closely, she continued in a mild voice, “When Kay let me know she'd given you a referral, she also mentioned that your girlfriend jokes in public about you being a ‘weirdo’ for caring so much about plants. She doesn’t sound like she was very supportive or respectful of your hobby.”

Finn’s face warmed. “She’s just teasing me,” he said weakly, realizing how it must sound and recalling how Eliamay’s “jokes” never really sat right with him. “She said I didn’t seem like the kind of guy who had a whole room of plants that you couldn’t smoke up. It was just jokes.”

“Yeah. Well, this _isn’t_ a joke.” The woman pointed to the plant. “I don’t know if I can save it. I’ll try, though. But my suggestion stands – break up with your girlfriend. Kay told me that before you asked her if she could recommend a plant doctor in this town, you'd lost more than five of them.”

“I ... yeah.”

Finn remembered Kaydel’s odd expression when he’d asked whether she knew someone with a deep knowledge of plants, because his were dropping like flies, and he’d never experienced that phenomenon. He’d always loved plants and had been good at raising them and keeping them healthy. She’d appeared slightly chagrined before handing over a slip of paper with a number and a name in block text. Finn saw it in his mind’s eye: **REY SOLO**. He kept forgetting that was the woman’s name. She didn’t quite seem like a _Rey_ , but that was neither here nor there.

“You don’t believe me.” Rey’s voice was flat. “I get it. I didn’t want to believe it either when it happened to me. It’s not fun to realize you’ve been hooking up with an abusive asshole. But you asked me for my thoughts, and here we are.”

Finn chewed his lower lip. “I’m sorry that happened to you. It’s just ... I’m really good friends with my girlfriend’s sister – we were in the same cohort in law school. She introduced us to each other. It’s not that I don’t believe you, but – the idea that she’s been doing this on _purpose_? It’s ... a _lot_ to take in.”

He thought about what Marialew would say if he went to her and told her that her younger sister was an alleged plant killer. But then again, he remembered that when Eliamay had come to one of their mixers, Eliamay had been openly flirting and Marialew had not seemed to be very happy about that. His neck prickled at the memory of Marialew, stone-faced, later telling him that Eliamay did not like _not_ being the center of attention at a given moment, and that she often contrived to put herself there by any means necessary.

Finn hadn’t considered it a warning from his friend about getting involved with her sister, but now –

“Trust me, I sympathize,” said Rey, breaking into his thoughts. “Hold on a minute.”

Rey bent down behind the counter. When she straightened, there was a small plant with red-tipped leaves in her hands. She reached under the counter again and pulled out a small bottle with a dropper top.

“Here. Take this with you. Tell your girlfriend it’s a new addition to make up for the one that just died. Never mind that it’s not dead – yet.” Rey paused. “Mention that it’s _super_ delicate and it needs vitamins, but only one dropper full of this substance every other day. Tell her if she gives it any more than that, it’ll die within a day.”

Finn looked aghast. “You’re _giving_ me a plant for her to possibly kill?”

"No, that’s the thing. This is something I’ve been working on as an adjustable fertilizing agent,” she said. “The beauty of it is, you _can’t_ give a plant too much. The excess that isn’t metabolized will just get flushed out with water. But _she_ won’t know that. I’ll bet you a dollar that this vial will be empty in a day or two.”

Finn's gut felt hollow, and the back of his neck prickled the way it often did when he got flashes of sudden insight. Rey was right. He didn’t know _how_ he knew it, but he could almost see Eliamay, with the smirk that sometimes seemed sexy but other times could be cruel, emptying the entire vial into the plant’s soil.

“I’ll work on this. But I can't make any promises.” Rey was looking at the plant he’d brought in. “If I can’t do anything for it, I’ll let you know within 48 hours. If you haven’t heard from me by then, that means there’s still hope.”

Finn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He knew he could just politely thank Rey, take his plant, and turn around and pretend he’d never heard any of this, dodge the subject if Kaydel ever asked if he’d visited the plant doctor she’d recommended, and just keep Eliamay away from his plants from now on. Maybe when he passed the Bar, things would go back to normal ...

He took another deep breath and held it briefly before blowing it out, and that idea along with it. Five plants. _Five._ Some of them he’d had since high school. He’d told Eliamay when they’d first started dating that they were important to him. He’d _told_ her that ...

She’d shrugged and looked clueless each time he'd dumped the carcass of one of his beloved plants into the composting machine. He’d blamed himself. _Dammit._

"Thanks.” Finn picked up the new plant and the vial. “I hope _not_ to hear from you in 48 hours then.”

Rey smiled at him, the first time she’d done so since he’d come into her shop.

“I hear you. And for what it’s worth? I’m sorry ... about everything. It really does suck.”

Finn wondered how to respond. When he found he had no answer, he simply nodded and left.

* * *

When he returned four days later in the late afternoon, Rey was in the place he’d last seen her, behind the counter and pruning what looked to be a miniature rose bush.

She looked up at his approach, caught sight of his expression, and gave a sympathetic half-nod as she put the bush to the side.

“How long did it take?”

“A day. A fucking _day_.” Finn’s voice was tight. “She hid the vial in a drawer, but I found it when I was looking for scissors. It was empty! I asked her later if she’d dosed the plant like I’d asked, and stressed that it only had to be a little bit of what was in the bottle or it would die and she told me she’d followed the directions to a tee. Then a day later I could tell she was pissed off, but she wouldn’t tell me why, and she asked me if I was going to get another vial of the stuff ‘in case we run out.’”

He let his breath out in a harsh gust. “Anyway, I took your advice. I won’t get into details, but when she left she basically said that a _real_ guy wouldn’t be into plants as much as I was, and good luck finding a girlfriend who’d put up with it.”

Rey mumbled something in response under her breath. Finn had to admit it was a fair classification of Eliamay from his perspective, but he wasn’t going to repeat it.

“... How’d you know _this_ would expose her?”

“Because it’s how I caught my ex,” she said. “Not exactly like _this_ , but similar. After a few of these _accidents_ happened, the next time I had to go out of town, I asked him as usual to look after my plants, but I stressed that one was my favorite and _extremely_ delicate. I then gave him care instructions that were totally the opposite of what was required, figuring that I’d either come home to a dead plant, and I’d realize that the earlier situations _were_ just accidents after all ... or I’d come home to a plant that was thriving and loving life.”

“I’m guessing you came home to ‘thriving,’ huh.”

“It was outgrowing its pot!” She shook her head bemusedly. “I’d seen enough. I confronted him, and when he started making excuses, I kicked him square in his balls and moved out that night.”

“Sounds like he had it coming.” Finn paused a moment. “I still can’t believe this. It’s just so fucking ... _unnecessary_. If she thought I was a wimp or not paying enough attention to her or whatever, why not just break up with me? Why do _this_?”

“Because just dumping you isn’t enough for these sort of people. My ex wanted to punish me for wanting a career and not fucking him on demand and being the perfect housewife-in-waiting. I suppose _your_ ex felt that she couldn’t conceivably expect to come before your career, especially since she had a sister training as a lawyer and knew how hard it was, but she _wouldn’t_ share you with your plants.”

Finn mulled that. It made all the sense and then _no_ sense at all. Yes, he loved his plants, loved things that grew, loved the beauty of green spaces and bright flowers. He’d thought that Eliamay had understood that on some level, or was trying to, despite the uncomfortable jokes. It was never _her_ versus the plants – it was always her as part of his life, which _included_ his plants. He had no idea how she’d misread him so completely, nor how _he’d_ missed all the signs of her jealousy and cruel nature.

Remembering Marialew’s wooden expression when he’d told her one day in class he was going to give Eliamay a call for a date, Finn almost wished his friend had taken his phone out of his hand and thrown it on the floor.

“Well, I learned a lesson. The hard way, but I learned it.” He gave Rey a lopsided smile. “Thanks. Um, do you want your plant back? If not, I’ll buy it from you. I really like it.”

“Me, too, it’s one of my favorites. It’s a red dangivine. Not rare, but super pretty and easy to take care of. And don’t worry about payment – it’s on the house. It can keep _this_ one company.”

She went to what looked like a small oven-like structure, bent, and retrieved something from the interior. Finn’s eyes widened when he realized what it was.

His plant. The one he’d all but given up for dead. The plant who brought him to Rey Solo’s doorstep.

“You did it! You saved it!”

He gazed in awe at the plant, which had been yellowing and wilted when he’d brought it in, and now was getting its color back, planted in deep, dark soil and reposing in a stylish green pot.

“I thought it was too far gone, and even though I didn’t hear from you in two days, I wasn’t sure that anything could be done.” He smiled radiantly at her. “You really _are_ a miracle worker.”

“Eh. Just doing my job.” She looked modest, but he saw a slight flush of pride on her cheeks. “But, actually, I’ve had a lot of practice bringing plants back from the brink. You and I aren’t the only ones who’ve been sabotaged by jealous partners. Once, a woman came to me and said her houseplants were all dying. She’d had them for years, and couldn’t understand it. The only change was that she’d decided to get back in the workforce and she asked her husband to help out more around the house. They didn’t have kids. When I did a soil analysis, I could tell dish soap was being added to the soil, probably through the water. It was a high enough concentration that I could tell it wasn’t just from a waterer that hadn’t been washed out enough. It was deliberate.”

Rey’s brow creased. “I told my client that I’d try my best and that _maybe_ her husband didn’t have a green thumb and she should see to her plants herself. I felt like such an asshole not telling her that he was probably doing it on purpose to get out of the housework. I made a promise to myself then that I’d tell people if I suspected that someone close to them was deliberately killing their plants. Some people have gotten mad and stormed out ... but a lot don’t. It’s as if they had the thoughts themselves in the back of their mind, but didn’t want to believe it. It never makes me happy to have to tell somebody the bad news, but I hate the thought of any innocent living thing suffering.”

Finn frowned a little. “Don’t you ever get worried that someone might, I dunno, come here and hurt you for breaking up their relationship?”

Rey shook her head. “Anyone wanting to try something like that would get a _really_ unpleasant surprise. I’m a brown belt in judo. And for those people who might have something else up their sleeves, I’m ready for _them_ , too. Miracle Gro isn’t the _only_ thing I keep under the counter.”

Finn made an impressed sound at the back of his throat. He wouldn’t have thought it to look at the slender, somewhat-unassuming, fresh-faced girl, but Rey Solo was apparently a force to be reckoned with. It worked for her.

“That’s never happened, though,” she said in a musing tone. “Interestingly, the majority of my clients are referrals. I like to think that maybe their friends and family members can see what _they_ can’t, and send them to me.”

Rey cocked a brow at him. “I’m not sure if she told you, but Kaydel’s my cousin. She’s two years older than I am. I always wished she were my older sister because my older brother and I don’t get along too well. Kay’s a really, really good judge of character. I know when she sends someone to me, it's because she suspects something shitty is going on. And so I do, too.”

Finn reflected that he and Kaydel had met through Jannah, and that his twin sister probably knew more about their friend than he did. That was definitely going to have to be remedied.

“Well, I guess I’m going to have to thank her twice,” he said. “Once for saving my plant and another for saving me from wasting more of my time someone who obviously didn't really give a fuck about me.”

“You’ll get your chance,” said Rey. “I’m sure Kay’s expecting you at her birthday party Saturday.”

“Yeah ... wait – isn’t that supposed to be a surprise party? How does she know anything about it?”

“Ben, my brother, spilled the beans and ruined the surprise.” Rey’s lip curled in dislike. “He’s good at ruining things. Anyway, you’re going, aren't you?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Me and my sister, and her wife, Rose. And Poe – you know Poe, I guess?”

“Of course! I always tell people _he's_ my brother instead of Ben. I wish it were true, plus it drives Ben crazy.” Rey grinned at him. “So I’ll see you there. It’ll be nice to talk to you again. ... Your ex is wrong, you know.”

“Huh?”

“Some women _like_ a guy who’s into plants.” Rey was giving him a very penetrating look. “Some of us find it really ... attractive, in fact.”

Finn smiled, biting the corner of his mouth to keep the grin from overtaking his face. He wasn't thinking anything, really. Except that Rey was super cute, and loved plants and had a brown belt and judo and seemed sweet and kind. But it was too soon after Eliamay. And there was the Bar exam to worry about.

Still, he felt a little flutter in his chest at the thought that maybe he’d be able to get to know Rey Solo a little better, and she seemed to want to get to know _him_ better. Maybe some time down the road ...

“Good to know. And glad to hear,” he said in a soft voice. “Thanks again for everything.”

“Anytime.” She was still giving him _that_ look. "If there's anything else you need ... well, you know where to find me."

Finn swiped his bottom lip with his tongue, pretending not to notice her going about as red as the tips of his new plant.

“See you soon, Rey.” 

As he left, Finn clutched the new plant and his restored plant close to him and began running down in his mind just what he was going to wear Saturday night.

the end!

**Author's Note:**

> So, story time! This happened to my sister. She was dating a guy who hated that she spent time growing geraniums and when she went for her residency, he moved in and said he'd take care of her plants and he systematically killed them all off. She never realized until they broke up and he told her. We still are looking for him to break his kneecaps.


End file.
